Should You Quit Uni to Start a Business?

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A Little Context

I was a late bloomer in business. I really didn’t understand it as a concept until I hit my 20s. Honestly. They talk about how your environment influences you and there was absolutely nothing around me that made me think I was capable of running a business.

It’s not for people like me. It sounds too scary. I don’t even want to know.

I don’t know if it was school, home or my friends, but there was no way I was thinking about business (beyond watching Dragon’s Den) until I moved to London. It was there that I ended up in a space where I was surrounded by start-ups, freelancers and opportunists trying to generate an income by any means.

I was dragged in late.

I liked the idea of making money from early on, but business was something else entirely. (It’s crazy that now nearly all of my cousins have their own businesses and most of the people I deal with are self-employed.)

When I compare it to some of the youngsters I come across now, it’s wild how forward-thinking and tenacious they are. They’re figuring out from a very early age how lucrative some of their hobbies – gaming, YouTube, influencer work – can be, and have made moves by the time they reach 18.

I know absolutely loads of kids will be thinking the same thing; if I’m making good money/I know how to make good money now, why would I bother going to university? Should I pick university or just crack on with my business now? Should I lay the foundation for a business at the same time as I try to earn a degree?

Ultimately, I dropped out of my first university course to move cities and take on a new one. After the move I went through a series of business ideas – none of which I would call particularly successful (and only one of which still brings me some income today). At no point did I consider trying to quit it all for a business, because I never had the resources to create anything sustainable back then, but I was desperate to get something – anything building while I was still studying.

In my case, I was never in a position to swap uni for a business, but many people are. These are the questions I would have to ask someone before they take the leap.

Answer These Questions First

Is the opportunity time-sensitive?

Can it wait three years? If so then maybe just park it. You’re going to learn a lot at university, and you’re also going to set yourself up with a good back-up if you need it.

What are you studying?

Are you studying something which will benefit you in the long-run, whether it be for your business endeavours or otherwise? If so, you’re not going to get a better chance to better your education than right now.

Do you have back-up funds?

No business I’ve ever created has been fit within the budget I originally outlined for it. None. If you’re making a big anti-university statement by starting a business straight after your A-Levels, know that you’ve got the funds to support you if the beginning is a bit rockier than you originally planned.

Even if you have a mind for budget and growth, you still need to have some sort of system on your side to guarantee your personal finances don’t go into the business, which is so easy when we need to give it an extra push over the line. Getting a self assessment accountant and an accounting system will make it easier. But you need some sort of financial back-up to guarantee you don’t slide into debt to bail your business out.

Have you thought about other options?

It doesn’t have to just be business or university; you could get a job, take time off or find another way to occupy yourself. Don’t feel as though you have to rush anything if you don’t have to.

So Where from Here?

I would generally advise people to get their degrees before they leap in with their own business. You can gain so much knowledge about people, marketing, good business practices and yourself in that time, giving you much-needed experience before you commit to anything. 

The only time I would perhaps consider the other option is if you’re already making good, sustainable money from a business of your own, and you know that university would hinder your growth. Remember that there are part-time degrees (I did one while I had a full-time job, and it was only a year longer than usual).